Apollo
Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. Unlike Artemis, he was the god of the sun. He is also the god of music, playing a golden lyre. The Archer, far shooting with a golden bow. The god of healing who taught man medicine. The god of light. The god of truth, who can not speak a lie. Both apollo and artemis have the power over plague. One of Apollo's more importaint daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses an drive the Sun across the sky. He is famous for his oracle at Delphi. People travled to it from all over the greek world to devine the future. Mythology Birth When Apollo's mother, Leto, was in labour with him and is twin sister Artemis, she was looking for a place to give birth but Hera had made all land shun her so she was unable to find a place to give birth. Hera was very sour towards her because Zeus was their father and Hera disliked that Zeus kept having children with other's women or goddesses. But Poseidon took pity on Leto and showed her an island that was not attached to the sea floor so it technically was not considered land. So Leto traveled here and that is where she gave birth. The little floating island called Delos. God of Prophecy Since Apollo was the god of prophecy he decided that he needed a place where mortals could come and ask questions to him and he would use his gift of prophecy to answer them. He found a perfect place called Pytho. The only bad part was that a terrible, giant snake called Python was living there and was terrorizing all the other living creatures there. So he killed the snake and renamed the place Delphi. He created his temple and the oracles spoke to the mortals prophecies in which Apollo would give to them to give to mortals. Trouble with Eros Eros was a very mischevious god and liked to cause all sorts of trouble. So one day he shot Apollo with a golden arrow to make him fall in love with a beautiful nymph named Daphne. But Eros shot Daphne with a lead arrow making her feel hatred for Apollo. Apollo ran after her and she ran away. Daphne was frightened so she called to her father, a sea god, and he transformed her into a laurel tree. So Apollo, saddened by her running away from him, took some of the leaves and made a laurel wreath so that she would always be close to him. Music Contest There was once a satyr named Marsyas. He was a wonderful pan pipe player and all the forests came to listen to him play the pipes. One day Marsyas said that he was a better musician that the god of music himself...Apollo! This angered Apollo and Apollo challenged Marsyas to a music competition. The winner could do anything they want to the loser. Marsyas played his pipes and he was wonderful but when Apollo played the lyre...he was better. So Apollo won and because Marsyas had dared to even say that he was even close to being as good at him, he skinned him alive and hung him from a tree. Niobe's Jealousy There was once a mortal named Niobe who was angry at Leto because Leto had been given so much credit because she had twins but Niobe given birth to 14 children. Niobe started telling people that she was more important than Leto. Then Apollo and Artemis, who were very protective of their mother, came down to earth and shot every single one of her children with their bow and arrows. Niobe started sobbing and kept on and on. So Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a rock...but she still kept crying. Her crying eventually created the River Achelous. Agamemnon's Mistake There was once an old man who was a priest of Apollo. The old man respected Apollo and didn't ever disrespect him. But one day the Greek hero Agamemnon insulted the old man and he was angry. So the old man prayed to Apollo to get revenge on the man for the insult. And Apollo, greatful for the man's service as a priest, went to the Greek camp for nine days and shot poisoned arrows at the men and all their animals, spreading a plague on the Greeks in the Trojan War. Cassandra Apollo once fell in love with a princess Cassandra (without the help of Eros). She was the daughter of Priam, the king of Troy, and Hecuba. Because he liked her he gifted her with the gift of prophecy. Even though Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy she still disliked him. So he made it so that nobody would believe whatever she said about the future. She foretold the downfall of Troy, but nobody believed her. She foretold the dangers of the Trojan Horse, but nobody believed her. Then finally she foretold that Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, was going to kill him. But he didn't believe her. And as Agamemnon returned to his wife, she and the male she really liked murdered him. The Basics Pronounciation: uh-pol'-oh Roman Name: Apollo Also Known As: Phoebus Apollo, "Shining One", Delphinios Symbols *Bow and Arrows *Dolphin *Hawk *Laurel Tree *Laurel Wreath *Lyre *Omphalos *Oracle *Raven *Snake *Swan *Tripod *Wolf Relationships Parents *Zeus *Leto Siblings *Artemis Offspring *Asclepius *Orpheus *Aristaeus *Troilus Friends *The Pythia *Poseidon *Dionysus Enemies *Hera *Python *Eros *Agamemnon *Niobe *Marsyas Trivia *Apollo is god of the sun. His twin sister Artemis is goddess of the moon. Thats why there is a spaceship to the moon named Apollo. *He is sometimes credited with shooting Achilles in his one weak spot. *He leads the muses.﻿ Category:Gods Category:Olympians Category:Children of Zeus Category:Twins